With Florida State set to open preseason camp Monday morning, a lot of eyes are about to be firmly on the Seminoles.

FSU enters the 2018 season with an array of questions after salvaging a 7-6 record last year in a season that once felt lost.

The unexpected departure of Jimbo Fisher has led to Willie Taggart taking over the program he grew up a fan of.

Some things are clear about FSU heading into the 2018 -- Cam Akers will be good, the defense will be young but talented -- while other things remain up in the air with less than a month until FSU takes the field against Virginia Tech in Tallahassee.

Before the Seminoles open camp, FSU beat writers Wayne McGahee III and Curt Weiler each offer up five predictions for the Seminoles this season.

Curt's predictions

1. FSU will be 5-0 heading into the Miami game

It's hard to deny how difficult FSU's schedule is.

It's also hard to deny that it is pretty backloaded.

Should FSU get past Virginia Tech in its season opener -- hardly a given, but FSU is rightfully favored at this point -- all that separates FSU from being 5-0 heading into a chance to avenge last year's home loss to Miami is home games against Samford and Northern Illinois and road trips to Syracuse and Louisville.

Neither of those road trips are sure things, but if FSU beats the Hokies, it will be favored in each of the ensuing four games.

Should FSU still be undefeated going into its showdown with the Hurricanes, it's quite possible the game will be played in primetime with College Gameday in attendance and eyes across the country watching Taggart in his first rivalry matchup at FSU.

2. D.J. Matthews will lead the Seminoles in receiving yards

Matthews is unmatched athletically among FSU's wide receivers and perhaps by anyone on the entire roster.

He has a freakish skillset and is now in an offense that caters to the strengths of his game.

After six catches for 72 yards as a true freshman, Matthews is looked at as one of the prime candidates to take a huge step forward in 2018 after his first spring with the team.

Nyqwan Murray sits as Matthews' most likely competitor for the receiving crown -- he led FSU in receiving yards last season and has over 1,100 yards in his career -- but Matthews' versatility has me thinking he will end up on top.

3. Five or more interceptions for Stanford Samuels III

If Samuels pulls this off, he will be just the second FSU player in the last decade to do so, joining Tarvarus McFadden, who had eight interceptions in 2016.

There are a number of reasons why I believe this will happen.

First, Samuels showed a proclivity for being around the ball in his first season. Coming off the bench in a reserve role, he still finished with two interceptions and five pass breakups.

Add to that the fact that Samuels will likely be starting opposite lockdown cornerback Levonta Taylor and it should mean that Samuels will have plenty of balls thrown his way.

Good ball skills and a high volume of passes his way could very well equal paydirt for Samuels in 2018.

4. Dontavious Jackson will lead FSU in tackles

Jackson enters 2018 with 37 career tackles (19 solo) across his two seasons as a reserve linebacker for FSU.

I believe he will blow those numbers out of the water in his first year as a starter.

Jackson has embraced the new FSU coaching staff, been a leader by example and with his words and had among the best offseasons on the team.

As such, he has positioned himself as the most likely linebacker to claim one of the three vacant spots heading into the 2018 season.

Jackson will begin to fully realize his potential as a four-star linebacker out of high school and more than double his career tackles total this year.

5. FSU will have three 500-yard rushers

Taggart's Oregon offense nearly pulled this off in 2017.

He had two running backs reach the mark and a third finish the season with 498 rushing yards while the Ducks ran the ball 165 more times than FSU did.

Oregon had one very good running back in Royce Freeman, but FSU's complete RB room will be a huge improvement for Taggart's run-heavy offense.

Sophomore Cam Akers seems like a given to reach the mark, as does senior Jacques Patrick, who had 735 yards on the ground a season ago.

There are a few options for who could emerge as the third 500-yard back, but it's hard to bet against Khalan Laborn after his impressive spring game performance.

If FSU pulls this feat off, it will be the first time since Devonta Freeman, Karlos Williams and James Wilder Jr. each surpassed 500 rushing yards in 2013.

Wayne's five predictions

I was in the camp after the spring that Blackman would win the starting job.

Blackman had a very good spring that didn't translate into a good performance during the spring game, but Francois wasn't able to participate and that put him behind.

One of the main reasons that I believed it was Blackman coming out of the spring was Francois' multiple off-season issues, where he put himself in bad positions. I also lacked confidence he would be able to make it through the summer without another issue popping up.

He was able to do so and will head into fall camp fully healthy for the first time since the season opener against Alabama last year.

Francois is a more capable runner and has the best arm of any of the quarterbacks. If he can improve on his short passing game, he's the best candidate to win the job.

2. FSU will beat Miami and Florida

Miami was able to pull out a last-second comeback win against the worst team FSU has put on a field in a decade last year despite having its best team in the last decade.

FSU should be much improved this year with a coach that isn't on his way out and a scheme that's built to take advantage of its players' superior athleticism and talent.

Miami has a lot of talent returning on both sides of the ball, including three of the best linebackers in the ACC, running back Travis Homer, wide receiver Ahmmon Richards, and safety Jaquan Johnson.

But the Hurricanes are also expected to start Malik Rosier at quarterback and have issues on the offensive line and the interior of the defensive line.

FSU blasted Florida on the road last year and the talent deficit between the two programs continues to widen.

The Gators haven’t beaten the Seminoles since 2012 and I don’t expect it to happen this year, especially if Feleipe Franks wins the job as the starting quarterback again.

It’s going to take time for UF to rebuild the talent level after it’s dropped so far, but that’s also no certainty to happen with the way the Gators are currently recruiting under Dan Mullen.

I think FSU will beat both teams this year, though the game against UM will be much closer than the game against UF.

3. Tamorrion Terry will lead the team in receiving yards and touchdowns

Terry redshirted his freshman year in 2017 but is set to have a huge year for the Seminoles in 2018.

He had a breakout spring where he was basically unguardable and was able to continue that performance in the Garnet and Gold Spring Game.

Terry provides a big, athletic downfield target for whichever quarterback wins the job and will make a lot of plays downfield. He’s also going to be one of the top red zone threats for the Seminoles with Auden Tate gone.

He is a special kind of athlete that may not lead the team in receptions, but he’s going to make the most of those receptions and end up leading the team in receiving yards and touchdowns.

4. Cam Akers will rush for 1,500-plus yards

Taggart has had a feature back that received the bulk of the carries for his system every year since he moved down to South Florida.

That will be Cam Akers this year.

Expect him to get over 200 – and probably closer to 250 -- carries in Taggart’s system and expect him to make the most of those carries.

Last season with a true freshman quarterback and teams keying in on the run, Akers rushed for 1,024 yards and seven touchdowns. He averaged 5.3 yards per carry on 194 carries.

Even with Akers getting that many carries there will still be plenty to go around for the other running backs, but Akers is going to be the guy this year.

His combination of speed, power, athleticism, and vision make him one of the top returning running backs in the country, and he should be a legitimate Heisman contender this year depending on how successful FSU is as a team.

5. FSU will go 9-3 or better

With the schedule that FSU has this year and the transition to new schemes on both sides of the ball, 9-3 may be a little optimistic.

But I believe FSU is going to find a lot of success early in the year and start off 7-0 with wins over Virginia Tech, Louisville, and Miami.

I do think it’s going to be a struggle for FSU over the four-game stretch of Clemson, at North Carolina State, at Notre Dame, and Boston College. Coming out of that four-game stretch at 1-3 wouldn’t be very surprising considering how difficult those games are and the fact that there’s no break in between.

I said above that I think FSU continues its winning streak against UF.

Heading into bowl season with a chance to get to 10 wins would be a great season for FSU in Taggart’s first year as he continues to make the program his own.